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jftHIS DOCTJMENT. IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS ERITAjtffIC MAJESTY * S GQyERfflffiNT.)
S E C R E T ,
Copy No.
CABINET
go (23)
Heating of the.Cabinet to he held at 10 Downing
Street, B.W.1. on Tuesday, October 23rd, 1923 at 2*30 p.xa.
e
A G E IT D
,30 a m
e
0
1.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
2
MILK PRICES AND THE MILK COMBINE.
e
Memorandum by the President of the
Board of Trade.
( C P . 423(23) - already circulated)
(Signed)
M. P. A, HANKEYc
Secretary, Cabinet.
2 Whitehall Gardens, S.W.I.
22nd October, 1923.
I DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MIJESTYLS GOVEPJH/IENT)
COPY NO.
I O R B T-.
C A B I B E T
50(23).
CONCIUSIONS of a Meeting of the Cabinet held
at 10, Downing Street, S.t/ 1, on TUESDAY,
£3rd. OCTOBER, 19S3, at £,3fl p.m.
0
PRESENT:The Prime Minister
ost Hon. '
6 1-IarqUess of Salisbury,K. G.,
C,7.0,,C.B*
fin the Chair).
ah:e. Rt.Hnn.
discount Cave, G.C.M..G.
lord Chancellor.
rd President nf the Counoil.
Rt.Eon.
,ord Robert Cecil, K.C.,M.P.
lord Privy Seal,
Rt.Hon.
fC. Bridgeman, M.P*
cretary of State for Home
fairs.
The RtMlon.
Neville Chamberlain, M P.
Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The Most Hon.
The Marquess Curzon of Eedleston,
K c G. j, So C u S o I , G. C . I.E.
Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs.
Grace
Be Pake of Devonshire, K. G*,
EC.M.G..G.C.V.O.
Icretary of State fpr the
ponies *
The Rt.Hon.
Earl of Derby, K.G. O.C.B.,G.C.7
Secretary of State for War,
lit.Hon.
le count Peel, G.B.E.
ecretary of State for India.
The Rt,Hon.
Sir Samuel Hoare, Bart., CeM.G.,
M.P., Secretary of State for Air.
pt.Hon.
IS, Amery, M,P. ,
first lord of the Admiralty.
The Rt .Hon.
Sir P. 11 oyd-Greame, K.B.E. ,M. C.,
M.P., Presidont of the Board of
Trade.
;Kt.Hon.
Wood.
. P.
pesident of the Board of
Puoation.
The Rt.Hon,
Sir R.A. Sanders, Bart., M.P.
Minister of Agriculture and
Fisheries.
fc.Hon.
I r Montague Barlow, K.B.E.,M,P.
fnister of labour.
The Rt.Hon,
Viscount Novar, G.C.M.G.
Secretary for Scotland.
'
f
The Rt,Hon. Sir I. Worthington-Evans, Bt.,
G.B.E.,M,P., Postmaster-General.
I Eyre Crowe
G.C.B.,G.CM.G.,Permanent Under Secretary, Foreign Office
.
f
Foreign Policy only.
o
f*?-.-.A. Hankey, 6.B.E....
r
..Secretary.
(This Document is,the Property of His Britannic
^sty^ s''poje rnmentIT"
- S E C. E S T
CABINET 50 (23).
CONCLUSIONS of a Meeting of the Cabinet, held
at 10, Downing Street, S.W.1, on TUESDAY.
OCTOBER 23, 1923, at 2-30 p*m
0
MISTICE DAY.
1. After hearing from Lord Curzon that the following
arrangements were aoceptable to His Majesty the King and
irsvious
Reference:
H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, the Cabinet agreed
labinot 49
Confclusion 1. )
m),
—
(a) That the arrangements for the Service at
Westminster Abbe,y should remain unaltered:
(b) That a short Service should be held on
Armistice Day at the Cenotaph at the usual
hour of 11 a. mo , at which the King would be
represented by the Prince of Wales:
(c) That the following Ministers should receive
His Royal Highness at the Cenotaph:The Home Secretary,
The Secretary of State for Air,
The First Lord of the Admiralty,
with military authorities to be
designated by the Secretary of
State for War:
(d) That the Service at the Cenotaph should
Include the Two Minutes' Silence, the laying
of a wreath by the Prince of Wales in the name
of the King, the singing of a hymn, and a prayer
' to' be offered by the Bishop of London, who had
already accepted the Archbishop of Canterbury's
invitation to perform this office.
In this latter respect the Cabinet took note
that the offering of a Prayer v/ould be an
addition to the usual practice of previous
yea-rs, but considered this desirable as
Armistice Day fell on a Sunday:
(e) That Lord Curzon should arrange for a,n immediate announcement on the subject to the Press:
(f) That it would "be desirable, in view of the
arrangements now made for the celebration
of Armistice Day, for the Prime Minister
not to take part in the Service at Trafalgar
Square on that afternoon.
2. After- consideration of a Memorandum "by the President
JILK P R I C E S
0) T H E M I L K
of the Board of Trade on the subject of Milk Prices and
COMBINE.
the Milk Combine (Paper CP.-423(23)), the Cabinet approved
Iprsvious
Cabinet 20
the following proposals contained the rein:-
123), C o n
llusion llf) )
T
(a) To approve in principle the introduction
in the Autumn Session of a Dill confined
in its soope to milk and drawn in accoraance with the recommendations of the
Linlithgow Committee, empowering the. Board
of Trade to take action to force the Milk
Combine to disclose its accounts:
(b) That the details of the Bill should b e
settled by the Committee of Homo Affairs-
yjTUi PRICES
AHD TIE MILK
.V1DJ. iNiiJ *
2. After consideration of a Memorandum by the President
of the Board of Trade on the subject of Milk Prices and
the Milk Combine (Paper CP.-423(23)) , the Cabinet approved
(previous
the
j Reference:
Cabinet 20
(23), Conj elusion 1(f).)
following pro-posals contained therein
(a) To approve in principle the introduction
in the Autumn Session of a Bill confined
in its scope to milk and drawn in aoooruance with the recommendations of the
Linlithgow Committee, empowering the. Board
of Trade to take action to force the Milk
Combine to disclose its accounts:
(b) That the details of the Bill should be
settled by the Committee of Homo Affairs.
rv
A
y
M
r*
yj
l
3'. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs gave the
r
ition.
Cabinet a full report as to the latest developments in the
region of Foreign Policy? and more particularly in regard
to the situation arising out of the occupation of the Ruhr;
eus
Inoe:
the abandonment of passive resistance by Germany; the
It 48
loonSeparatist movements in Bavaria, Saxony and the Rhineland;
In 5, )
'
the possible effect of these movements (if successful; on
the Treaty of Versailles;
the telegrams exchanged with
America and subsequently with the Allies in consequence of
President Coolidge s reaf fir-mat ion of the statement by Mr.
!
Hughes in the previous December during tho Presidency of Mr.
Harding;
and the reported concentration of troops by Russia
on the borders of the Baltic States.
In the course of this statement the Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs read a telegram just received from
Mr Ryan (Coblenz) (Nos 413 ) statinr: the views of the French
& 414
High Commissioner in the Rhineland, who was not sanguine in
regard to Reparations prospects;
as well as extracts from
the report of a Conference between the Permanent UnderSecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, representatives of
the Treasury, Sir John Bradbury and Lord Hilmarnock, the
British representative on the Rhineland Commission.
The Secretary of State for War read a telegram, from
the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief in the Rhineland stating
that for the moment he did not consider there was any cause
for anxiety, in the situation as regards Cologne, nor did he
at presentisee any reason why a clash should occur between
the civil population and the troops.
There was no reason
why the troops should become engaged provided it was decided
;
to let the rival factions fight it out while the British
Army remained neutral^,
izff, which was by no means certain, an
attempt by force were made to proclaim the Republic in Cologne.
(50004 Cypher of 23rd. October).
Strong representations were made that in no olrcumstances should British troops in the Rhineland he utilised
to suppress any movement of a Separatist tendency within
the British zone, and that the attitude of our forces towards
any such movement should he one of strict neutrality and
impartiality.
Various suggestions were made as to the line.to he
taken "by the Prime Minister in regard to Foreign Policy in
his forthcoming speech to the Unionist Associations at
Plymouth.
The Cabinet agreed
—
(a) That? subject to a favourable reply being
received from Washington to an enquiry made
by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
the Prime Minister should be authorised to
mention the communications with the United
States of America and with our Allies in
regard to a possible Conference, whether of
representatives of Governments or of Experts
appointed by the Reparation. Corardssion, including in either case an American represontative:
development in
Cb) That no public statement of any new/Foreign
Policy should be made by the" Prime Minister
- without previous consultation with the
representatives of the Dominions and India
at the Imperial Conference:
(c) To adjourn the discussion of Foreign Policy
until after a reply had been received from
M. Poincare* to the proposals forwarded to him
by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
hall G a r d e n ^ S.W.1,
October 2 3
r
1923.
W
C0NOMIO
:
i)LIOY OP
EJE G O V E R N -
Unemployment
k
evious
ferenoe:
kbinet 49
Is), Oonbsion 4.)
if
4. In view of. his forthcoming speech to the Unionist
Associations at Plymouth, the Prime Minister gave his
colleagues an outline of what he thought should he the
polio;/ of the Government towards the problem of Unemplo7/ment ,j
under the followincr heads:Unemployment Is the outstanding problem
in the political life of the country. Failure
to deal with it might wreck the Government.
The root problems in unemployment are as
follows:Population has increased and the pool
of unemployed, which has always existed,
is' therefore larger. Since the War the
environment in which industry is carried
on has changed. The whole economic system
03 Europe, including exchange and currency,
has broken down. The economic recovery
of Germany is inevitably delayed, involving
indefinite delay in the stabilisation of
currency and exchange in Central Europe.
Consequently new factors have entered
into the problem of industry, including
currency bounties and low wages abroad.
This has already been experienced in
regard to Germany, and the fall of the
franc in the next few months, which
competent judges anticipate, may give
rise to a similar phenomenon in France,
where we are already experiencing a new
competition in such manufactured "articles
as woollen goods and rubber tyres. Unoertainty as to the direction and extent of
competition paralyses industry. Another
danger is the possible exploitation of
Germany by cosmopolitan financiers bringing
competition to this country, which usually
has to play the role of "shock-absorber".
To these difficulties and handicaps to
trade must be added those of reparations,
which may arise sooner or later. In order
to pay for the increased imports which
she requires owing to depletion of stocks
and reduction in her own production,
Germany must export more. Similarly,
Reparations can only be paid by increased
Exports. Except in the event of a boom,
comparable to the discovery of gold in
California -- and no such boom is in sight the world can only absorb such exports by
a great dislocation of trade, which must
be disastrous to this country.
o
All that the Government has dope for
unemployment will be deemed insufficient.
protective
riff.
There is only one way, not to cure, but
to fight unemployment, and that is to.
protect the home market against foreign
manufactures *
'
Without machinery for this, we are
impotent to meet any of the dangers
described.
The alternatives, viz., to do nothing or
to temporise by putting on the McKenha duties
on a few more articles, are of no value.
It was not practicable to give protection
to corn in the form of a tariff, and the
feasibility of doing; this by means of £
bounty should be examined by a Cabinet
Committee.
Agriculture.
After some remarks as to the political
advantages of the oourse proposed, the Prime
Minister added that he would like to combine
with a protective policy the following:evelopment
Empire...
Development of Empire and measures to
obtain cheap raw materials within the
Empire by stimulating the production
of cotton, tobacco and sugar, a policy
which, in conjunction with protective
duties,; would, tend to bring the dollar
and pound to parity in New York.
leap Raw
terials.
The Prime Minister proposed, in ordetv
to avoid any brea^ of Mr.- Bonar Law s pledge,
to confine action, during the Autumn Session
to an extension of the McKenna duties on
articles in regard to which the Board of Trade
had received reports, but to-take the verdict
of the country within six months.
y
1
posed
era!
ction.
After some discussion, the Cabinet agreed
-
That in announcing this policy the Prime
Aa ) Minister
should endeavour to avoid- commit-
ting the Cabinet as a whole or embarrassing
those of his colleagues who, owing to eleotion pledges or other reasons, required time
to oonside"r their attitude:
-\
That this might be effected by the Prime
Minister announcing at Plymouth- that the
Government realised that the steps already
decided on in relief of unemployment were
only palliatives; that, owing to Mr. Bonar
Law's pledge,- they were prevented from going
further in"Vne present Parliament; but that,
speaking for himself, he thought they might
have to go further and apply a tariff.. "The
Government would watch the situation, carefully,-
and, if there was no improvement j the
Prime Minister would, hold himself free
to propose further steps, of course
consulting the country. With some such
introduction the Prime Minister, could
then develop his proposals in fulls
Co) That the Prime Minister should confer
further with his colleagues in the House
of Commons in regard to the form in which
his policy should be presented.
5 Whitehall Gardens, S.Wol,
October 2 5 , 1923.
Vv